Pet product picks: toys for too-clever terriers

I have a sneaky miniature schnauzer who chews on toys like it's his full-time job. I also grew
up with feisty West Highland white terriers who quickly figured out and/or destroyed seemingly
complicated, durable toys.

When I'm rating dog toys, durability is my first priority, but also important is that it will
hold the interest of my very clever terrier for more than a day.

Here are my picks for toys that get my dog's bark of approval:

PetSafe makes a line of "Busy Buddy" toys that do keep high-stimulation dogs
pretty busy. One of my dog's favorites is this
Nobbly Nubbly, one of several Busy Buddy toys that uses rawhide discs that
slide onto plastic rods after a human unscrews certain parts of the toy.

This toy has lasted almost a year now, despite enduring daily
sessions of persistent chewing.

The Nobbly Nubbly is a design improvement over the Busy Buddy Jack, which, after a lot of
chewing, can be worn down to very sharp points of plastic that can break off into small,
easily-swallowed pieces.

It's hard to find a frisbee that will fly like a regular disc but won't be
punctured or cracked by a dog's teeth. So many durable, dog frisbees are too rubbery and floppy to
be much fun to throw.

Enter the
Hyperflite Jawz disc, which at about $16 is an expensive flying disc, but its
flexible plastic will long outlast several $1 frisbees.

One of my best purchases for my dog was this toy, recommended by an employee at
local pet-supply store PetPeople.

The
StarMark Bob-A-Lot comes in a few different sizes and is basically a Weeble
that dispenses food or treats. Putting a whole dinner's worth of dry food into it keeps a dog
occupied for a long time and prevents him from getting sick from eating too fast.

KONG also makes a
version of this toy, but the center of gravity feels a little different, its
dispenser opening isn't adjustable, and it seems less durable than the Bob-A-Lot.

Nylabone chew toys are very popular, but dog owners have to be careful to buy
Nylabones made for the types of chewers their dogs are.

The fun-looking
Dental Dinosaur Chew Toy, for example, may be dangerous for very powerful
chewers because large-enough pieces can break off and, if swallowed, cause intestinal damage.

It's a little too heavy for my 19-pound dog to carry around for long, but he loves it,
anyway.

A clever dog will find the Busy Buddy Tug-A-Jug very rewarding.

A dog less interested in puzzles might find it an average-quality chew toy.

But, like the StarMark Bob-A-Lot, the Tug-A-Jug can hold a lot of dry food, keeping a dog
busy for a long time. The bottom of the jug unscrews for humans to insert food or treats, and the
dog needs to do a certain combination of knocking-over and pulling to get to his food from the top
of the jug.